Forever Strong (Book 7 in Nemi Forever Series)

Chapter 20

Demi

It felt good to be in Nick's arms, leaning on his strong upper body, especially since I had a thought before I fainted that I may never be here again. When I saw that gun pointed at my stomach, I thought for sure I was dead. I felt Nick kiss my head & I sighed, relaxing against him.

Kristen came in a little bit later, her face solemn. "Well, Officer Jones is in recovery now. They were able to remove the bullet, but he did suffer damage to his left kidney, so they had to remove it. The bullet didn't hit his spine, so he's not expected to be paralyzed. He had a lot of internal bleeding, but they stopped it & he is expected to make a full recovery. His wife is here & she's with him. You can probably visit him in the next few days once he's in a regular room."

Nick breathed a sigh of relief & tears of joy sprang to my eyes. I was so happy A.J. was okay. I needed to be able to thank him. I owed him my life & my son's life. He would always be a part of my family from this day forward. And he was a Lovatic, so he would always have a piece of my heart.

I was released from the hospital an hour later & it was pretty early in the morning when Nick & I headed home. My mom held me tight when I walked into the house, then told me the kids were still asleep. Nick & I went to bed, since we were both exhausted. Mom even stayed & let us sleep in, a little, the next morning. Once Nick & I woke up, we showered & dressed, then headed downstairs. My mom had sent me a text telling me she hadn't told the kids Nick was home, so we could surprise them. As Nick & I tiptoed to the dining room, we heard the kids all talking as they ate lunch.

"Is Daddy coming home today, Grandma?" We heard Mercy ask. Nick flashed me a grin & my heart melted, thinking about how excited the kids will be to see Nick. It had only been a few days, but to a child, it might as well have been weeks.

"Maybe. Let's say a prayer." My mom answered. We made our way into the room & saw them all with their eyes closed. Reid opened his eyes first, since he had the shortest attention span. His face lit up as he climbed off the chair & ran to Nick.

"Daddy!" Reid screamed as Nick picked him up.

Mercy squealed with delight when she saw Nick & her & Jerry both ran to him, throwing their arms around him & Reid both. I stood by my mom, both of us smiling, as we watched the reunion. I was crying, but I cried at everything whenever I was pregnant. Who am I kidding? I cry all the time no matter what. The rest of the day, I enjoyed the time with my family, all of us under one roof again & the tragedy behind us. The police officers, who interrogated Nick, even came to the house to personally apologize to him, which I was impressed by. They assured us that Chaz would be behind bars for a long time, not only for what he did to Karleigh, but for the meth lab he had in his house as well.

Karleigh was doing well according to Ellie, but Ellie wanted to keep her out of the public eye for a little bit, so she stayed home from school for a few days. Ellie brought her over one evening to see Mercy & the two of them had the cutest reunion. Even Jerry gave her a hug & said, "I'm glad you're okay, Karleigh, and I'm sorry your mommy is in Heaven." It brought tears to my eyes, of course.

Over the next few weeks, I planned the twins birthday party. It was going to be a huge celebration because of everything that had happened. Officer Jones was coming & bringing his wife & I was so excited to see him. Ally was coming, too, since she got a break from her world tour. She was a huge pop star now & was in the middle of a big tour. I was glad she hadn't forgotten the twins, who still adored her. Marissa was coming from L.A. & I was excited since I hadn't seen her in ages. Marissa got married, to Derek, a few years ago & we talked once a week, but hadn't seen each other as often as we used to. She hardly ever visited Texas, but I saw her when I was in L.A. She was so busy with her career & being a social butterfly with her husband, that she didn't have a lot of spare time. I was excited that so many of my friends were coming to Texas to celebrate with us. This party was going to be huge, especially since we were inviting friends from our neighborhood, too.